Is it too late to bring elderly Nazi criminals to justice?

This question is inspired by a BBC documentary about Nazi war criminals still living in freedom. when I first started watching the programme I believed that, regardless of age and how they lived their lives after the war, they should be brought to justice. Having watched two of the three part series I am now not sure what to believe.

Two journalists were able to talk to some of these men, some of whom, at the time had not stood trial for their past offences. They were all frail old men. What bothered me was how likeable some were. They welcomed the journalists into their homes and talked about their experiences. One man openly said that he couldn’t feel guilty for what he had done because he was “only following orders” and he claimed not to realise what was really going on. He also claimed that he never killed anyone during the war but he did send them to the men that would kill them.

It leads me to wonder how exactly we can punish these men even if they do stand trial. One man did stand trial and was sentanced to life imprisonment at 90 years old. In all honesty is this really a punishment. The man will, more than likely, live a similar life of any man that age just in slightly different surroundings. I am sure he won’t experience what it’s really like to be a prisoner. Also, should inprisonment be used as a place to reflect on your crimes in order to be a better person when/if you ever leave prison or is it purely a way of keeping the criminals away from society?

At 90 years old these men seemed harmless despite their crimes sixty odd years ago and so is imprisonment the best choice of punishment?

Ideally, how do you think these men should be punished if brought to trial? Do you think there is any point in punishing them at all especially the men that are senile as well as old? Is it a waste of money and rescources to try and bring these men to trial at such a late stage in their lives?

Sorry this is such a long ramble. The programme has left me unclear of what to believe.